Hatsumi Sensei's Class 16 october
He emphasized not focusing on something specific, not to try to take the weapon (katana or knife) or to not force a technique to uke.
When uke attacks, Sensei does not evade, but moves out of the line of attack and makes a contact. This contact, which he does with a finger, forearm or shoulder, is what he uses to control and unbalance uke. Create a kukan from that contact by stopping and readjusting the position. To find the point of movement within that void, play with the idea of pressing and releasing (chikara or nuku). In this dynamic you can use a straight line to act on the shoulder when pushing, then uke responds with the same pressure in the opposite direction, and at that point, when releasing the pressure we have the kukan, so from that space we can redirect using another line and / or another plane with a circular movement (being able to accede to ura or omote in the structure of uke).
The line that separates the struggle from the control that Sensei talks about, is that letting go, not clinging to trying to do something and just moving from the kukan.
When it comes to several attacks, it moves making a contact in the first and the second attack deviates it from that control it did at the beginning.
On the other hand, all the movements that it makes use the body as a whole with the help of the displacement through space, or in a vertical plane supporting itself. It is important to use the shoulder and the scapula to make the movements in short distance so as not to lose kamae.
When it catches a finger, it is not having intention to do it in a principle, but the movement causes that it can accede in a moment to something that takes advantage of.
If there is resistance from uke, create a vacuum by releasing that point and access it again. All the time is to move without intention, only to take a distance and an angle in which it is protected, making contact to be able to feel the intention and movement of uke and use it against him.
With the contact, it seeks to break the structure of uke so that it can not continue moving or attacking and being able to control it with just one finger without using force. It manages to control the attack of uke moving just when it decides to initiate it, leaving Sensei in a space different from the one that uke had in its head and blocking it by the new unexpected situation when not knowing how to react. When Sensei puts himself in the role of uke, he shows control of himself, always being centered within the void in order to react to any situation.
Thanks Dom Griffiths for the translation on english